Menezes family 'horrified' by new police shooting

Jason Bennetto
The Independent
Nov. 03, 2006

The family of the Brazilian electrician killed in London after being mistaken for a terrorist reacted with fury yesterday to reports that one of the police marksman involved in his death has shot dead another man.

The firearms officer involved in the latest shooting - of a suspected armed robber - was one of two men who shot Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station in July last year. The two officers were cleared to return to full operational duties in July this year after the Crown Prosecution Service decided no individual officers should be charged.

In the latest incident, a team from Scotland Yard's CO19 firearms unit were supporting detectives as they tried to stop a raid on the Nationwide building society in New Romney, Kent, on Tuesday night. A 42-year-old man who allegedly opened fire on officers was shot during the operation and died later in hospital.

A spokeswoman for the family of Mr Menezes said the relatives had "expressed shock and disbelief at the news that officers involved in the killing of Jean Charles have killed again. Family members were horrified to learn that the same officers have been given a licence to kill again even before the investigative process into Jean's death is complete."

Alex Pereira, Mr de Menezes' cousin, added: "We are shocked that someone responsible for the death of an innocent man has been given a licence to kill again. The investigations into Jean's killing haven't finished but the same officers have been handed back their guns as if nothing has happened. Sir Ian Blair might have hoped he could sweep Jean's death under the carpet but when the same mistakes keep being made, he has to be held responsible."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has launched an investigation into the Romney shooting. Scotland Yard refused to confirm details of who was involved in the incident.

Damian Hockney, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said: "It's hard to know what the officer could have done. But in the context of Stockwell, it raises some awkward questions about the context in which you put an armed officer back on the street after an incident. How long do you leave it?"